Nicotine promotes spread of lung cancer to the brain.*
“Policies that offer uni-tobacco pricing and typically going to have non-smokers pay a little more to cover the added risk faced by smokers.”
Jesse Slome, director of the American Association of Critical Illness Insurance
Cigarette and cancer insurance, what consumers should know
Cigarette and cancer insurance findings, June 8, 2020: Scientists have discovered an added deadly link facing people who intake nicotine. Forty percent of those who have the most common type of lung cancer subsequently develop metastatic brain tumors. They have an average survival time of less than six months.
The researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine found that nicotine actually promotes the spread of lung cancer cells into the brain. Kounosuke Watabe, Ph.D., professor of cancer biology at Wake Forest School of Medicine is lead author of the study “We don’t think that nicotine replacement products are the safest way for people with lung cancer to stop smoking,” said Dr. Watabe.
The study was published in the June 4 issue of Journal of Experimental Medicine. The researchers examined 281 lung cancer patients. They found that cigarette smokers exhibited a significantly higher incidence of brain cancer. Using tests on mice, they found that nicotine enhanced brain metastasis by crossing the blood-brain barrier to change immune cell in the brain into cells that supported tumor growth.
Cancer insurance is important for smokers and non-smokers alike
“Nearly a quarter of a million Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year,” shares Jesse Slome, director of the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance. “The risk is enormously high for smokers and nicotine users who definitely should have some plan in place to pay for the treatments and medicines that give them the greatest chance for survival.”
Slome points out that critical illness insurance policies today often offer a cancer-only insurance option. “That generally will be a far more affordable option and something that can be extremely valuable to buy in your 40s or 50s,” he notes. Know that cigarette and cancer insurance is available. The AACII director suggests looking for a policy that offers both a cancer-only ad a comprehensive ci insurance option.
Slome advises that non smokers will generally benefit by comparing policies that offer tobacco-distinct pricing. “Policies that offer uni-tobacco pricing and typically going to have non-smokers pay a little more to cover the added risk faced by smokers,” Slome shares. That is an important reason to compare. When companies offer employer critical illness insurance on a voluntary basis they may offer uni-tobacco rates. Comparing your offered group coverage to an individual coverage available directly from insurance companies can be most worthwhile.
- Source: Science Daily, June 4, 2020
Photo Credit: Image by klimkin from Pixabay
